[Magnum_guy]

So I picked up a Magnum ( Always wanted one) and the car I found is clean/low miles but needs sorting.

The brake pedal in the car is firm but takes a great deal of effort to actually stop the car. I had assumed this was a faulty brake booster but I'm sad to say that after standing on my head and swapping it out....that did not resolve the issue. The car appears to have new front rotors and pads. Not sure what else to investigate but the front brakes look really new and I'm wondering if the rotors were not cleaned or some other issue that could have glazed the brakes. Does this make sense? Are some pads just really crappy? Interested in recommendations for what else to try. I'm thinking about running a DA sander on the rotors to assure they are not glazed and maybe sand or swap out the brake pads. Any other suggestions? Doe this plan make sense and if so are there preferred pads for the magnum?

Thanks,

Will

 

[ImperialCrown]

I would lean more towards pad material being too hard before I would blame the rotors. Hard pads will last a long time, but they are tough on rotors. They also don't stop well.
A store-brand premium pad set may give more front brake 'bite'. Semi-metallic or Ceramics depending on your type of driving. I like the ceramics as they are clean & quiet for everyday use.

Ceramic vs. Semi-Metallic Brake Pads: 2023 Comparison

Ceramic brake pads have less cold bite than semi-metallics. Find out more on how organic vs ceramic vs semi metallic brake pads compare.

www.repairsmith.com

 

[chuzz]

Stupid question, I'm sure, but did you try replacing the check valve on the booster?

 

[Magnum_guy]

Stupid question, I'm sure, but did you try replacing the check valve on the booster?

Check valve on the booster came with the new one, and when I started to loosen the master from the booster I heard a hiss like it was holding vacuum (I suspected I was wasting my time swapping the booster at that time but I pressed on).

 

[Magnum_guy]

I ordered a set of Bendix semi metallic pads to try:

I will let you know how much of a difference it makes. Looks like these should have the best stopping capacity by pad type but I will likely have more brake dust to look forward to. I'm guessing what's on there are glazed up as I cant imagine it would be acceptable to a typical driver ( Feels like manual brakes on a big car).

 

[paullybob]

Maybe the front pads weren't broken in properly??? Check to see (if you want) if there is a high degree of reflection on the pad wear surface. If they were glazed over, you're going to want to swap them out anyway....

 

[chuzz]

Maybe the brake hoses for the front calipers are collapsing?? Have you checked them?

 

[Skinpine]

Get on wet grass, grass or dirt and lock up brakes. Check the skid marks to see if both circuits of the master cylinder are working or if all wheels are braking. This will also activate the antilock which may help if there is air in it but not a replacement for proper bleeding.

Check the rear brakes for bad calipers or frozen pins. There is much more braking on the rear wheels with the more even weight distribution of modern rwd cars. Check front calipers for the same. Check what other posters have mentioned.

 

[Magnum_guy]

So I spent some time on the front brakes yesterday and I can already tell the time was well spent.

Here is what I found:

Its hard to see in the picture but the rotors were so shinning I had never really seen any that bad in terms of glazing before. The brakes had obviously been done recently ( In terms of millage) but the glazing was hard to remove. Both sides of the car looked the same. I forgot to take an after on this side so here is an after pic for the other side of the car:

I used my DA sander and 80 grit paper. I went through about three sheets of cheap paper to get both rotors to clean up. I sanded them just enough to see them clean up. I could have just had them turned but I have not had great luck at the parts stores near me.

After it was back together I did a few hard stops to seat the new Bendix Semi-Metallic pads and its already much better and I will assume they will improve further with a little more driving. The rears just looked warn ( 50% pad left with grooves in the rotors) so I may go back to do those later this spring as well. I can here the ABS do its thing now on a hard stop on dry pavement and I couldn't do that before.

Thanks so much to my friends on ALLPAR for the help and encouragement getting my first Mopar sorted out, I really appreciate it!

Thanks,

Will

 

[Magnum_guy]

So I'm on the fence here of "do the rear brakes now" or just try to do a Brembo 4 pot brake upgrade all the way around in the spring. I'm only in $28 in pads and labor at this point with my current set up.

Does anyone know what year Brembos will fit my awd R/T magnum? Are they AWD specific and are the rotors different between Brembo calipers and Magnum R/T? I can start trying to figure that out on Rock auto but I thought I would post here first.

BL- The car stops much better with the new pads but I didn't put the goo on the pads so they are squealing a bit. I also found out the car weights about 300lbs more than my sons 96 F-150 4X4 so yah I think I can justify 4-pot Brembos if I can figure out a cost effect way to do that....Anyone do that already and if so any feedback?